The basic chemistry of water, along with a brief glimpse into water's origin on Earth, are discussed in this two page article. The article can be used as a "reading to be informed" activity in a stand-alone fashion or can be incorporated into a...(View More) lesson plan.(View Less)

Twice each day, once during daytime and once at sunset, students observe sky color, visibility, and sky conditions over a one week period. Each observation is recorded on a sky report form (included) for follow-up discussions and comparisons. This...(View More) lesson is one of four in the GLOBE program storybook entitled, "What's Up in the Atmosphere? Exploring Colors in the Sky." GLOBE (Global Learning and Observation to Benefit the Environment) is a worldwide, hands-on, K-12 school-based science education program.(View Less)

Using water to represent the atmosphere and milk droplets to represent aerosols, students make predictions and conduct investigations to discover how different aerosol concentrations affect atmospheric color and visibility. This lesson is one of...(View More) four in the GLOBE program storybook entitled, "What's Up in the Atmosphere? Exploring Colors in the Sky." GLOBE (Global Learning and Observation to Benefit the Environment) is a worldwide, hands-on, K-12 school-based science education program.(View Less)

Through the use of prisms and glue sticks, this activity introduces students to a fundamental property of light: white light is made up of colors representing different wavelengths. Students use the results of the activity to explain the variation...(View More) in sky color from daytime (blue) to sunset (red). This lesson is one of four in the GLOBE program storybook entitled, "What's Up in the Atmosphere? Exploring Colors in the Sky." GLOBE (Global Learning and Observation to Benefit the Environment) is a worldwide, hands-on, K-12 school-based science education program.(View Less)

This short (11:29 minutes) video features NASA scientists answering a set of student-designed questions related to NASA’s Global Precipitation Measurement satellite mission. The set of twelve questions were generated after students viewed...(View More) animations of GPM data; the questions centered on satellite operations, satellite data, and precipitation patterns and impacts.(View Less)

This Science On a Sphere video and docent show (script and playlist), explores factors that render Earth habitable and influence Earth's energy budget. The video gives an overview of NASA's Search for "Goldilocks Planets" - planets that are not too...(View More) hot or too cold for liquid water.(View Less)

This video is narrated by NASA scientist Peter Griffith who explains fast and slow carbon cycling on Earth. A banana is an example of fast, young carbon. A chunk of coal is an example of old, slow carbon. Carbon dioxide and vegetation on land seen...(View More) from space by satellites show the annual cycle: as plants grow during spring and summer they draw carbon dioxide out of the air during photosynthesis. When they die or go dormant during winter, carbon dioxide levels rise in the atmosphere. Burning fast or slow carbon to generate power or heat releases black carbon, also called soot which can be seen from space. ClimateBits videos are designed for Science On a Sphere (SOS) and also available on YouTube. Links are provided to more information for this topic from the main ClimateBits website (see related & supplemental resources).(View Less)

The effects of gravity on near-surface objects and those in Earth orbit are explored in this activity. A brief explanation, links to three related videos, a teacher's guide and short assessment are included.

This brief (2:04) video explains the ozone hole over Antarctica - the annual thinning of stratospheric ozone caused by manufactured chemicals. Twenty-five years after the Montreal Protocol limited the use of ozone depleting chemicals, scientists are...(View More) starting to see signs of recovery. ClimateBits videos are designed for Science On a Sphere (SOS) and also available on YouTube. Links are provided to more information for this topic from the main ClimateBits website (see related & supplemental resources).(View Less)

This video features NASA scientist Claire Parkinson explaining atmospheric carbon dioxide levels seen in measurements collected at the Mauna Loa observatory since 1958 and recent global model output. The seasonal cycle of plants on land and in the...(View More) ocean explains the annual rise and fall of carbon dioxide. The long-term trend toward more CO2 in our atmosphere is largely due to human activity. We are putting CO2 into the air faster than nature can remove it.(View Less)